PSA: Coil Whine on MBP 16

[zainiak]

This is actually ridiculous. I'm currently restoring a time machine backup to the 16 inch and the fans are going full tilt - I can hear the fuzzy/static noise over the fan from across the room.

Edit a day later: noise has gone down to almost none. Basically a non issue. I've pushed the laptop a lot over the last day or so. Not sure if it needed to "break in" or what but it's good now.

 

[Arise2B]

I could hear sometimes as SSD on the 16" MBP works. My 2.5" SanDisk SSD sounds exactly the same. But that is not coil whine, which means (and sounds) much differently. The sound of SSD however is very subtle and does not bother at all. If anything is more loud than that is fingers swiping on trackpad, which actually makes similar sound as the SSD.

 

[7even]

I had a chance to play with 3 machines because I thought the first one had a noisier SSD than I would like. The second had the same date of manufacture as the first (Nov 18th) and it was definitely quieter. Unfortunately, it also seemed to run hotter than the first, both subjectively and objectively. The third one is an Oct 14th build which runs cooler but makes noise somewhat similar to the 1st.

I'm keeping the third, since I'd rather have a cooler-running laptop. Moral of the story, keep the first one you get if everything works as expected 😂

 

[T-Bob]

When first setting up machine coil noise was clearly evident and was expecting machine to be a dud, but since then have heard next to nothing.

 

[jerryk]

All the people hearing the noise initially probably had something to do with the indexing that occurs the first day or so. Lots of very fast drive activity during indexing.

And if you reinstall trying to fix the noise issue you just restart the indexing processing from the start.

 

[happyhippo1337]

When first setting up machine coil noise was clearly evident and was expecting machine to be a dud, but since then have heard next to nothing.

There isn't one without it. I'm on my fourth 16" from various retailers and different configs and each and every one of them has it. It's just a matter of your surroundings and your hearing ability if you notice it or not.
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All the people hearing the noise initially probably had something to do with the indexing that occurs the first day or so. Lots of very fast drive activity during indexing.

And if you reinstall trying to fix the noise issue you just restart the indexing processing from the start.

Nope, mine was done indexing since I bought it on Thursday. Now it's starting to make the noise again. It's just ....beyond me how not a single review mentions it. And believe me, they have it as well.

 

[jerryk]

Nope, mine was done indexing since I bought it on Thursday. Now it's starting to make the noise again. It's just ....beyond me how not a single review mentions it. And believe me, they have it as well.

Could be they do not hear it. Some people are more sensitive to noise. And as we age we can no longer hear certain frequencies. Once you are out of your teens it is all downhill for hearing.

 

[Pepe4life]

There isn't one without it. I'm on my fourth 16" from various retailers and different configs and each and every one of them has it. It's just a matter of your surroundings and your hearing ability if you notice it or not.
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Nope, mine was done indexing since I bought it on Thursday. Now it's starting to make the noise again. It's just ....beyond me how not a single review mentions it. And believe me, they have it as well.

Unfortunately most prominent “reviewers“ have all been paid off by Apple to say great things about the latest products. Just look at all the YouTube shills

 

[irichard87]

I have this too on the 1TB model (SSD device name AP1024N). It's quiet and most of the time runs silent, but you can hear what seems to be the SSD when you:

- Go to the storage tab in 'About this Mac'
- Boot up the computer
- While a new iPhone simulator is launching when you build and run in Xcode

It's exactly this noise:

Given that multiple people here are reporting the issue on both their original units and replacements it seems to be a fairly common (if not universal?) issue, which is a little annoying given how silently my old MacBook Pro (2012) used to run - but sending it back for a replacement seems a little pointless if this is relatively widespread. At the very least, I'd take this very quiet and occasional buzzing over picking up a quieter model with the Butterly keyboard any day 🦋😉

 

[happyhippo1337]

Yes, this is the sound. I've shared that video before to illustrate it - because nobody seems to understand what we're talking about otherwise. If this won't disappear like 95% of time while using the machine, it's going back - also if there's no popping noise fix in the next 11 days. Unfortunately, the longer return period only applies to the online store - not if you bought retail. At least that's what I've been told.

So - hurry up Apple

 

[Nacho98]

AP0512N (512 GB obviously), sitting in a dead silent room/whole house where I can hear the seconds tick on a clock in the adjacent room and this thing is as quiet as they get, and I have perfect hearing. Scrolling through Music library, doing a Time Machine backup, doing a clean install of Catalina - all of it - as silent as can be unless you hold your ear right up to the keyboard, which is abnormal behavior.

 

[milhous]

Yes, this is the sound. I've shared that video before to illustrate it - because nobody seems to understand what we're talking about otherwise. If this won't disappear like 95% of time while using the machine, it's going back - also if there's no popping noise fix in the next 11 days. Unfortunately, the longer return period only applies to the online store - not if you bought retail. At least that's what I've been told.

So - hurry up Apple

Yeah, if it wasn't for buying at the Apple Store, I'd have returned the machine already, or if Apple was prepared to extend the window and/or offer a direct exchange.

Their options are limited. Either they can correct this through software/firmware updates, or that they've confirmed the issue, made component changes on the production line, and is willing to exchange units with a new factory-corrected version. They've got 38 days to do something about it, or it goes back.

 

[happyhippo1337]

AP0512N (512 GB obviously), sitting in a dead silent room/whole house where I can hear the seconds tick on a clock in the adjacent room and this thing is as quiet as they get, and I have perfect hearing. Scrolling through Music library, doing a Time Machine backup, doing a clean install of Catalina - all of it - as silent as can be unless you hold your ear right up to the keyboard, which is abnormal behavior.

I hear it from 2 meters away. And that's my third 16" machine. And each and every MacBook with a Touch Bar made the exact same noises - eight in total so far that I've used / had to work on.

 

[Donnation]

I have never heard it. I've taken mine into a completely silent room and duplicated iMovie, I scroll through my 20,000 iTunes song library, I've downloaded items to the SSD, and I don't hear it. I can absolutely hear my external SSD's make this noise but I do not hear it on my 16", which I guess is a good thing.

 

[happyhippo1337]

Absolutely! Glad your‘s is ok!

 

[T-Bob]

There isn't one without it. I'm on my fourth 16" from various retailers and different configs and each and every one of them has it. It's just a matter of your surroundings and your hearing ability if you notice it or not.
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Nope, mine was done indexing since I bought it on Thursday. Now it's starting to make the noise again. It's just ....beyond me how not a single review mentions it. And believe me, they have it as well.

Oh yes its there alright, suppose I should say its not prominent enough to hear in most situations here unlike the Mac mini was. Can hear the occasional pip or squeak as well depending on actions.

 

[csjcsj]

Today’s dumb question - what does coil whine sound like? My new 16” does make some noise, but I have no idea what the noise is or if it’s natural. It really made noise when transferring files from the old Mac and downloading files from icloud.

 

[Donnation]

Absolutely! Glad your‘s is ok!

Or maybe my hearing just sucks. Sounds like it’s pretty much a universal problem but just not one that I’m sensitive to.

 

[irichard87]

Today’s dumb question - what does coil whine sound like? My new 16” does make some noise, but I have no idea what the noise is or if it’s natural. It really made noise when transferring files from the old Mac and downloading files from icloud.

See post 134 above. It sounds kinda similar the noise old HDDs used to make when reading/writing (but quieter!)

 

[happyhippo1337]

Mine is almost silent when I disable Turbo Boost with Turbo Boost Switcher.
Might be a solution for day to day tasks. Kind of ridiculous, but I can't keep returning machines for this - just too costly.

 

[intrepidcase]

Datapoint - I can only hear the SSD if I stick my ear right up to the keyboard, even then it's very subdued. New i9 2.4 with 1TB SSD, coming from a 2013 15" MBP. Non-issue for me, and I am *very* sensitive to sound eg. I am constantly tweaking a hifi audio system to remove digital hash/grain/brightness.

As far as noise goes, my bigger gripe is that the fans come on easily when compiling projects, etc.

 

[happyhippo1337]

I didn’t hear anything today when Turbo Boost was disabled. As soon as I enabled it again, the sounds were back in full force. Other factors I came across were having it on the charger (that’s when it’s most prominent) and it kinda Fades a little if you disable the SSD encryption.

As I haven’t had one without this annoying sounds I might really just return it for good and wait for the 2020 model.

10nm Intel Chip, WiFi 6 and Micro LED seem to be one heck of an upgrade.

 

[bsbeamer]

Just received MBP16 (2.4/64GB/8GB/1TB) and it's silent so far. Skipped most of the setup portions in order to run some more initial tests throughout the day tomorrow. No iCloud linking, no data migration, no touch ID setup, etc. was done.

If there is anything SPECIFIC someone wants tested while it's in this config (before data migration and true setup) that does not require jumping through hoops, let me know.

 

[lewisflude]

I had terrible coil whine when the machine was first setting up, louder than an old hard drive (2.3/32GB/5500-8GB/1TB) but I haven't noticed it the last couple of days.

 

[impulse462]

I didn’t hear anything today when Turbo Boost was disabled. As soon as I enabled it again, the sounds were back in full force. Other factors I came across were having it on the charger (that’s when it’s most prominent) and it kinda Fades a little if you disable the SSD encryption.

As I haven’t had one without this annoying sounds I might really just return it for good and wait for the 2020 model.

10nm Intel Chip, WiFi 6 and Micro LED seem to be one heck of an upgrade.

10nm chips won’t be out for at least 2 years and the screen is miniLED which is more of an iterative upgrade. Sorry to burst your bubble.